Software as a Service
- Concepts and Implementation-
Ólafur Gauti Guðmundsson
ogg@rendezviewonline.com
www.rendezviewonline.com

Overview
• Brief intro to the SaaS concept
• Example: rendezviewonline.com
• Simple SaaS implementation

What is SaaS?
• Model for software deployment
• The software is hosted as a service
• All data is therefore stored centrally
• The service is accessed via web-based
interface
• Users subscribe to the service for a capacity-
based fee

Benefits of SaaS
• For the user:
• No setup, no maintenance to worry about
• No need to go through the IT deparment
• Less risky investment, no huge license fees to pay up
front
• For the vendor:
• All clients running on same release, less support
hassle
• Attractive revenue model
• Better control over intellectual property

Things to consider…
• Is the content secure and safe?
• Can data be exported?
• SaaS is often less customizable
• Dependent on access to internet
• SaaS is not a solution for everyone.

A few SaaS examples
• Salesforce.com (CRM)
• Google apps (Gmail, Google Docs, GCal, etc.)
• 37signals.com (Basecamp, Campfire, etc.)
• Freshbooks.com (Invoicing, etc.)
• Edicy.com (websites)

Rendezview
• Founded and built by two guys from Iceland
• One lives in Reykjavik, the other in London
• No investors, no office, no sales people :)
• SaaS model
• Currently in closed beta testing
• Aiming to launch January 2009

Rendezview - DEMO

Starting SaaS
• When starting a SaaS you need to think
about:
• The infrastructure (email, etc.)
• Where and how are you going to host the software?
• Source code control, issue tracking, release
management
• How do you provide support to your users?
• How do users pay their subscription fees?
• How do we make sure it works in all browsers?

Infrastructure
• Google Apps (http://www.google.com/apps)
• Email (using your own domain name)
• Docs
• Calendar
• Cost: Free

Hosting
• Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2)
• Virtual servers
• Can start up a new server in 2 minutes
• Elastic IP
• Elastic Block Storage
• Location control
• Cost:
• $0.10 per instance hour
• $0.10 per GB in
• $0.17 per GB out for the first 10 TB, then goes down

Source code control
• .com
• Subversion og GIT repository hosting
• Issue tracking, release management and project
management
• Cost:
• Unlimited number of repositories
• 1 active project
• 2 users
• Free!

Source code control
Unfuddle.com

Support
• Getsatisfaction.com
• Questions and discussions, suggestions, bug reports,
etc.
• Company employees AND other users can answer
• “The wisdom of crowds”
• Host your own branded Helpcenter
• Cost: Free

Support
getsatisfaction.com

Payment
• PayPal
• Supports recurring payments
• Payment can take place on the PayPal site
• Customize and brand the landing page
• User doesn’t need a PayPal account to pay
• Cost:
• 3.4% + €0.35 per transaction in Europe

Works in all browsers?
• Google Web Toolkit (GWT)
• Framework to build AJAX web solutions
• Write client and server in Java, use GWT to compile to
JavaScript
• Generates separate optimized version for each
browser
• “Hosted mode”: change client and view without
recompiling
• You can debug your AJAX code
• Supports history (the back button) and “deep linking”
• Supports i18n out-of-the-box
• Cost: Free

Open source software
• We use a lot of open source software
• Maven 2 – dependency management and
builds
• Lucene / Solr – powerful search
• Hudson – continuous integration

Conclusion
• You don’t need to spend lots of money to
implement SaaS
• All you need is:
• A great idea
• Right attitude
• Lots of time
• Big Cojones :)

The right attitude
• “Scratch your own itch”
• Don’t try to create the next Facebook
• Make good software at a great price
• Set a reachable goal:
• 400 users * $40 * 12 months = $200.000
• If 5% of those who register pay for subscription:
• 400 = 5% of 8000 registrations
• Ca 22 users must register each day of the year

Thanks for listening!
Ólafur Gauti Guðmundsson
ogg@rendezviewonline.com